This wand was snapped in half in September of 1992 in a run-in with the Whomping Willow, during Ron's second year at Hogwarts, it barely held together by a strain of the wood. Ronald attempted to hold it together using Spello-tape, but its magical capabilities were damaged beyond repair. It subsequently started malfunctioning; Ron refused to request his parents to buy a new one then due to fearing that he would receive another Howler from his mother for being irresponsible. When Ron attempted to hex Draco Malfoy for calling Hermione Granger a "filthy little Mudblood," the spell backfired, causing him to vomit slugs. When he tried to transfigure beetles into buttons in class, he instead created smoke that smelled like rotten-eggs, and accidentally crushed his beetle. During the first meeting of the Duelling Club, the wand once again malfunctioned, injuring Seamus Finnigan.

Despite the wand's negative effects it had all year against its master, the one positive deed was at the end of the school year. When Gilderoy Lockhart stole it, he attempted to wipe the memories of Ron and Harry Potter in the Chamber of Secrets, but the charm backfired, causing Lockhart permanent and drastic memory loss, thus saving Harry and Ron from Lockhart's scheme to claim that he found the Chamber of Secrets.[3] Ron's father, Arthur Weasley subsequently purchased a new wand for him.[4]

It has also been speculated that, had the wand not been broken, Lockhart's attempt to erase Harry and Ron's memories may have still backfired due to the concept of wand allegiance expanded upon in the final book's discussion of the Elder Wand. However, as Lockhart had stolen the wand from Ron by force, he might have won its allegiance.

Why Ron had Charlie's old wand is likely due to the Weasley family being relatively poor, and therefore unable to purchase a new wand for Ron when he entered school (though technically, Charlie could have kept this wand and bought a new one for Ron instead).

As it is described on Pottermore, Ash wood "cleaves to its one true owner and ought not to be passed on or gifted from the original owner, as it would lose power" as well as the Unicorn Hair core, as "they are the most faithful of all wands, and usually remain strongly attached to their first owner." It can be speculated that, while this wand was in Ron's possession, he was not able to demonstrate his magical skills to full capacity.